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Gratian Silva
Major General Hikkaduwage Gratian Silva, VSV, FBIM (27 January 1933 – 8 November 2015) was a Sri Lankan military leader, he served as the Military Secretary. Early life and education Gratian Silva was born in Ginthota, Galle. He received his education at St Thomas College, Mount Lavinia and Ananda College, Colombo, where he excelled in academics and sports, playing for the college cricket team. Military career After completing his schooling, he joined the Ceylon Army as an officer cadet on 27 February 1953. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 1st Anti Aircraft Regiment, Ceylon Artillery following his training at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst on 3 February 1955 and was stationed in Trincomalie where he served as a troop and battery commander and attended the young officers course at the Royal School of Artillery. He was transferred to the 4th Field Regiment in 1962 following the amalgamation of the 1st Anti Aircraft Regiment and the 3rd Field Reg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major General (Sri Lanka)
Major General (abbreviated as Maj Gen) is a senior rank in the Sri Lanka Army, and was created as a direct equivalent of the British military rank of major general. It is the second-highest active rank of the Sri Lanka Army while the Lieutenant General is the highest (the lieutenant general is the professional head of the army), and is considered to be equivalent to a two-star rank. A major general commands a division or the equivalent or performs staff duties in army headquarters. The Director of the National Cadet Corps holds the rank of major general. From 1958 to 1974, the Commander of the Army held the rank of Major General. Major general is a higher rank than brigadier, but lower than lieutenant general. The rank has a NATO rank code of OF-7, equivalent to a Rear admiral in the Sri Lanka Navy or an air vice-marshal in the Sri Lanka Air Force or the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. History The first Sri Lankan officer to be promoted to the rank of Major ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ceylon Artillery
The Sri Lanka Artillery (SLA) is the artillery arm of the Sri Lanka Army. It is made up of ten regular regiments and two volunteer regiments. The SLA is headquartered at Panagoda Cantonment, Panagoda. The emblem of the SLA is modeled after that used by the Royal Artillery, but with the lion from both the flag and emblem instead of the crown, with the lion depicted holding the Kastane sabre. Unlike other artillery units in the Commonwealth the SLA is entitled to a strand of Colours. History Ceylon Artillery Volunteers The roots of the Sri Lanka Artillery goes back to 1888, when on 12 April 1888 the Ceylon Artillery Volunteers was formed as a gun battery under the command of Captain C.E.H Symons of the Royal Artillery to man a gun battery equipped with BL 12-pounder 6 cwt guns. By 1901 it numbered a strength of 162. In 1910, its headquarters was moved to Galle Buck Road in Colombo Fort (which is now part of SLNS Parakrama). During World War I the Ceylon Artillery Volunteers w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commanding Officer
The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as they see fit, within the bounds of military law. In this respect, commanding officers have significant responsibilities (for example, the use of force, finances, equipment, the Geneva Conventions), duties (to higher authority, mission effectiveness, duty of care to personnel), and powers (for example, discipline and punishment of personnel within certain limits of military law). In some countries, commanding officers may be of any commissioned rank. Usually, there are more officers than command positions available, and time spent in command is generally a key aspect of promotion, so the role of commanding officer is highly valued. The commanding officer is often assisted by an executive officer (XO) or second-in-com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sri Lanka Military Academy
The Sri Lanka Military Academy () (SLMA or SLMA Diyatalawa), commonly known simply as Diyatalawa, is the Sri Lanka Army's training centre where officer cadets are trained for getting commission. It is located in the garrison town of Diyatalawa in the central highlands of Sri Lanka. All Sri Lanka Army officer cadets, including army cadets of the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, are trained at SLMA. Although not a university, SLMA is affiliated to the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University to provide its cadets of regular long course a degree in military studies. It has capacity to train more than 300 cadets. History When the Ceylon Army was raised in 1949, the need arose to recruit and train officers and soldiers of the newly formed army. The Army Recruit Training Depot (ARTD) was therefore formed in Diyatalawa on 6 February 1950 for the purpose of training recruits. The first batch of 114 recruits passed out from the ARTD on 2 June 1950. The ARTD was late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence. Sometimes, the term 'half-colonel' is used in casual conversation in the British Army. In the United States Air Force, the term 'light bird' or 'light bird colonel' (as opposed to a 'full bird colonel') is an acceptable casual reference to the rank but is never used directly towards the rank holder. A lieutenant colonel is typically in charge of a battalion or regiment in the army. The following articles deal with the rank of lieutenant colonel: * Lieutenant-colonel (Canada) * Lieutenant colonel (Eastern Europe) * Lieutenant colonel (Turkey) * Lieutenant colonel (Sri Lanka) * Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom) * L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rudra Rajasingham
Rudra Srichandra Rajasingham (2 April 1926 – 24 March 2006) was a Sri Lankan police officer and diplomat. He was the Inspector General of Police and Sri Lankan Ambassador to Indonesia. Early life and family Rajasingham was born on 2 April 1926. He was the son of surgeon A. S. Rajasingham and Noble Rajasingham. He was educated at Hartley College, C.M.S. Ladies' College, Colombo and Trinity College, Kandy. He was a school prefect and member of the cricket and rugby teams at Trinity College. After school he joined the University of Ceylon, Colombo from where he graduated with a degree in English, History and Economics. He played cricket and rugby for the university too. Rajasingham married Sita. They had a daughter (Sharminie). Career Rajasingham joined the Ceylon Police Force in 1949 as a probationary Assistant Superintendent of Police. He worked at several police stations including Tangalle, Mannar and Colombo. He rose up the ranks and in 1982 he was appointed Inspecto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Staff (military)
A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military unit in their command and control role through planning, analysis, and information gathering, as well as by relaying, coordinating, and supervising the execution of their plans and orders, especially in case of multiple simultaneous and rapidly changing complex operations. They are organised into functional groups such as administration, logistics, operations, intelligence, training, etc. They provide multi-directional flow of information between a commanding officer, subordinate military units and other stakeholders.PK Mallick, 2011Staff System in the Indian Army: Time for Change Centre for Land Warfare Studies, New Delhi, vol 31. A centralised general staff results in tighter top-down control but requires larger staff at headquarters (H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Army Headquarters (Sri Lanka)
The Army Headquarters (Army HQ) is the headquarters of the Sri Lanka Army and is located in the Defence Headquarters Complex in Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte. It was established on 1 October 1949 in the Echelon Barracks which was the headquarters of the British Army in Ceylon. It later moved to the Rifle Barracks and then to the Old Army Headquarters Complex, before moving to the new Defence Headquarters Complex. Structure The Sri Lanka Army is commanded by the Commander of the Army. Reporting to the Commander of the Army, are the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army, the Deputy Chief of Staff and the Commandant of the Volunteer Force. The Army Headquarters is divided into several branches, namely the General Staff (GS) branch, Adjutant General's (AGs) branch, Quarter Master General's (QMGs) branch, Master General of Ordnance's (MGOs) branch and the Military Secretary's branch. Security to the headquarters is provided by the ''Commander's Security Unit'', which is traditional ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators, major is one rank above captain, and one rank below lieutenant colonel. It is considered the most junior of the field officer ranks. Background Majors are typically assigned as specialised executive or operations officers for battalion-sized units of 300 to 1,200 soldiers while in some nations, like Germany, majors are often in command of a company. When used in hyphenated or combined fashion, the term can also imply seniority at other levels of rank, including ''general-major'' or ''major general'', denoting a low-level general officer, and ''sergeant major'', denoting the most senior non-commissioned officer (NCO) of a military unit. The term ''major'' can also be used with a hyphen to denote the leader of a military band such as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Staff College, Camberley
Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which in 1802 became the Senior Department of the new Royal Military College. In 1858 the name of the Senior Department was changed to "Staff College", and in 1870 this was separated from the Royal Military College. Apart from periods of closure during major wars, the Staff College continued to operate until 1997, when it was merged into the new Joint Services Command and Staff College. The equivalent in the Royal Navy was the Royal Naval Staff College, Greenwich, and the equivalent in the Royal Air Force was the RAF Staff College, Bracknell. Origins In 1799, Colonel John Le Marchant submitted a proposal to the Duke of York, the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, for a Royal Military College. A private officer training school, based on the id ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1962 Ceylonese Coup D'état Attempt
The 1962 Ceylonese coup d'état attempt (also known as the ''Colonels' coup'' ) was a failed military coup d'état planned in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). A group of Christian officers in the military and police planned to topple the government of Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike during the night of 27 January 1962. Organised by Colonel F. C. de Saram (Deputy Commandant, Ceylon Volunteer Force), Colonel Maurice De Mel, ( Commandant, Ceylon Volunteer Force), Rear Admiral Royce de Mel (former Captain of the Royal Ceylon Navy), C.C. Dissanayake ( DIG, Range I), Sydney de Zoysa (retired DIG) and Douglas Liyanage (Deputy Director of Land Development), it was to take place in the night of 27 January 1962, but was called off as the government gained information in the afternoon and initiated arrests of the suspected coup leaders before the coup was carried out. The arrested conspirators were tried under a special law, convicted and jailed. Their sentences were overruled later on appeal a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
